Town Board weighs plan to protect 113 acres of RGNY farmland

Riverhead officials are exploring a proposal to preserve portions of the RGNY vineyard property on Sound Avenue through purchases of development rights, potentially dividing the preservation effort between the town and Suffolk County.

A revised concept plan supplied for the project would protect approximately 112.7 acres of the 205.6-acre property, formerly Martha Clara Vineyards, while leaving about 92.9 acres with development rights intact.

Peconic Land Trust representatives discussed the preliminary proposal with the Town Board at its Nov. 12 work session. Board members expressed support for pursuing the preservation opportunity, with site visits, coordination with Suffolk County and appraisals identified as next steps.

Council Member Joann Waski said protecting the farmland and views along Sound Avenue was a priority.

“Because the last thing that I want to see is a bunch of houses there. We need the farmland,” Waski said. 

The current concept plan, which revises an earlier plan, would preserve about 55% of the property. It adds approximately 4.6 acres to an earlier proposal and changes the location of a retained development area to protect more vineyard frontage along Sound Avenue.

Peconic Land Trust representatives told the board that the owners are interested in preservation while also seeking to meet financial objectives. The concept would allow the winery business to continue and could eventually involve sales of protected land to other farmers.

“We’ve been working with them for about two or three months now. They are wonderful landowners,” Jessica Murphy, Peconic Land Trust’s director of conservation initiatives told the board. Owner María Rivero has been “a great steward of the land, so we are working with them to create concept plans. And this is the plan that we ultimately came up with and presented to the farmland committee,” Murphy said.

On the westernmost of three parcels grouped as the business lot, the revision adds 4.4 acres of roadside vines to the proposed preservation area. That would increase the protected portion of the 18.3-acre parcel from 7.8 acres to 12.2 acres.

On the 62.4-acre eastern vineyard parcel, the revised plan would preserve approximately 56.4 acres and retain a 6-acre development area along the eastern property line. The earlier concept placed the retained area along the parcel’s western Sound Avenue frontage.

Purchasing development rights would restrict future development within the protected areas rather than transfer ownership of the entire property to the town or county.

Substantial acreage would remain outside preservation. The revised plan excludes two development parcels totaling 58.6 acres and a 3.1-acre house lot, along with portions of the business, racetrack and eastern vineyard parcels. 

Deputy Town Attorney Danielle Hurley told the board that RGNY had also applied to Suffolk County’s preservation program. She said the county had expressed interest in an arrangement in which the town and county would preserve different parcels, rather than split the cost of a single acquisition equally.

The eastern vineyard and racetrack parcels were mentioned as possible town preservation responsibilities, but no allocation was settled.

Council Member Robert Kern, who once worked as a manager at Martha Clara, asked for information about restrictions on county-preserved land, including whether equestrian operations would be permitted. He also emphasized the need to examine individual parcel values before deciding how to proceed.

Supervisor Jerry Halpin supported further discussions with the county before determining which parcels the town would appraise. Board members also discussed arranging a visit to the property.

Appraisals, funding arrangements and the terms of any preservation agreement remain to be determined.

Martha Clara Vineyards was developed and operated by Robert Entenmann, who purchased the farmland in 1978. He transformed what had been a potato farm into a thoroughbred horse farm and later into a vineyard and winery. Entenmann named the vineyard for his mother.

The Rivero-González family, Mexican wine producers in Parras, Coahuila, bought the Riverhead vineyard in 2018.